OG: Chapter 30

As soon as I entered Kabuki Central, heading for the Docks down near Pinewood South, it began to rain. Thunder rolling and sky opening up. That was just fucking typical, but I couldn't say it wasn't appropriate. After all, Vulcan did say that I would jump to my next world after zeroing another SI. Why wouldn't this sort of Scop happen if this were the end of my time in this particular world? It was the right move from a dramatic point of view, and the Gods were nothing if not a bunch of Drama Queens. Hell, this whole contest was about entertainment and bragging rights for them. If that doesn't scream Drama Queen, I don't know what does. Either way, it made me think that this would be it. Either Aleksander Yurinov would zero me or I would zero him, and that would be that. Otherwise, there really wasn't any other reason for the rain, after all.

As I pulled onto Pinewood Street, the sounds of Samurai came on over the Radio, Chippin' In fading into the Ballad of Buck Ravers as I pulled into the Docks down here. The rain was pounding down, and a mist was rolling off the Pacific as I pulled up to the entrance of the section of the docks where Old Kang Tao Warehouse, which the Organiskaya normally used for smuggling sat. A container ship was docked out on the docks and crawling with Organiskaya Gangoons. The Сахалин Стар, which in English translated to Sakhalin Star. I was willing to bet that was a ship registered to a front company owned and operated by the Organiskaya, though probably the Branch from Vladivostok.

A quick scan, my Chrome's capabilities, already amazing, were boosted enough by the Comms Suite in my Paladin Five-Hundred to have me netrunning my way into the systems of the ship. Sure enough, I'd been right about the front company, but wrong about which branch of the Organiskaya owned it. It was the Branch from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, not Vladivostok. They really were that blatant about things, huh? Either way, I locked the ship down into maintenance mode, easily bypassing the Rusty Scop they had for ICE on the Ship's Systems. It wouldn't be going anywhere for at least twenty-four hours, plenty of time to Zero the remaining Gangoons. Now we just had to see whether or not that would get the attention of the Gangoons on the Boat and in the Warehouse.

As I waited further down the docks, I spotted not only the various miscellaneous Gangoons but also a summoned Creature. The metallic, bronze-like forms of a pair of Dwemer Constructs from the Elder Scrolls stood watch outside the Warehouse Entrance as the Gangoons on the ship began to stream down onto the docks in confusion. Funnily enough, it seemed like the fog that was rolling in off the Pacific from the downpour, alongside the distance I was perched at, was doing a lot of heavy lifting in keeping me hidden. Meanwhile, thanks to my Paladin Five-Hundred's Boosted Comms and my Mechanicus-Grade Chrome, I was able to see them just fine.

Grinning, I realized this was a preem opportunity to use the onboard Iron of my Paladin Five-Hundred. Flipping a switch on the dash, the twin retractable Heavy Machine Guns popped out of the front of my Paladin Five Hundred, and all that was left for me to do was drop the Hammer on the Gangoons milling about outside. With a grin, I pressed down on the firing stud, and both twin-linked Iron began to spit armor-piercing death down the docks into the mass of Organiskaya Gangoons and two Dwemer Constructs as the sounds of Never Fade Away began to play over the radio.

As shouts went up and the Gangoons began to be zeroed, I hit the accelerator on my Paladin Five Hundred and began racing down the dock as I fired the twin-linked heavy Iron that came with my Paladin Five Hundred. Most of the Organiskaya Gangoons were zeroed, cut up by armor-piercing rounds. A few managed to fire back, but their own Iron wasn't heavy enough to punch through the armor of my Urban Assault Vehicle masquerading as a Street Legal Car, rounds sparking off the armor. I continued zeroing them, even as the twin Dwemer Constructs tried to shelter them, but couldn't quite manage to do the job as I riddled them with the heavy, Fifty-Caliber Armor-Piercing Rounds.

In the end, I not only zeroed both Dwemer Constructs, but also the two dozen Gangoons that had been milling about on the Ship and Dockside. As my Paladin Five-Hundred pulled reached the area of Docks out front of the Warehouse, though, the FIII Footman Droid emerged from the Warehouse and fired its Miniaturized Railgun into the front of my Paladin Five-Hundred. That did punch through the armor, punching into the engine block and causing the Car to flip over. I hit the eject that'd been installed with the Ayvee Mod and rocketed out of the windscreen as the Paladin Five-Hundred Exploded, knocking down the FIII Footman Droid from the shockwave as I hit the docks in a Superhero Landing.

Immediately, I launched myself toward the FIII Footman Droid, pulling my Iron as I did so. It managed to get a single shot off that glanced my left pauldron, wrecking the armor and bruising my collarbone, but didn't break or separate my shoulder or anything, thanks to the extra bit of Uru I'd put into the new armor allowing me to shrug off an anti-tank round from the Star Wars Galaxy, albeit with damage to the armor. In response, I fired my Xipe Totec's Plasma Launcher, sending a magnetically accelerated plasma-sheathed round right into and through the FIII Footman Droid's Torso. The Droid exploded, zeroed from the round punching into its reactor core and scorching my armor, burning away the underlay beneath my damaged left pauldron and leaving my left shoulder completely bare and a bit scorched.

I hit the docks and rolled, just barely avoiding sliding off the docks and slipping into the drink. As I got to my feet, I could see the forms of another Dozen Organiskaya Gangoons pouring out of the warehouse, Aleksander Yurinov behind them, clad in some kind of metallic armor that seemed to be made of Durasteel and Phrik from the Star Wars Galaxy. He had his oddly silvery shotgun once more and was flanked by what seemed to be a pair of Golems made from Gemstones, one Ruby, one Emerald. The Ruby One was worked in the Shape of an Attack Dog, the Emerald One was worked in the shape of a Tiger.

"Finally! Been waiting for you!" Grinned Aleksander Yurinov.

"Where's your boss?" I questioned.

"Who? Boss? You mean Pavel?" Queried Aleksander Yurinov.

"Yeah, your boss." I nodded.

"He ain't my boss, Chief. I work for him because it keeps my interest." Scoffed Aleksander Yurinov.

"You still work for him." I pointed out.

"Didn't I tell you? These aren't real people, remember? How can I work for an NPC?" Asked Aleksander Yurinov.

"That's not how this works." I pointed out.

"You keep thinking that, maybe you'll even believe it one of these days. He ain't here in any case. See, we figured you'd show up here when word of the Sakhalin Star got out. All this is just me calling you out and making sure you can't duck me. You're not gonna be able to pull the same Scop you did zeroing my last set of Golems. Emerald and Ruby Golems are immune to fire and heat-based damage, like your plasma launcher." Smirked Aleksander Yurinov.

"We'll see." I scoffed.

And with that, the dozen or so Organiskaya Gangoons all pulled Iron, and time slowed down as I began to run the numbers using my enhanced intellect and Chrome. One Gangoon pulled out a Goddamned RPG Launcher and was immediately pegged as a Priority Target. As my Sandy and Kerenzikov kicked in and time sped back up, I raised my Iron and spat out ten millimeter rounds. The first round punched right into the RPG Gangoon's eye, bursting the Rusty Soviet Chrome he had for Optics and punching into his brain, causing him to drop the RPG as the bullet zeroed him. Already, I was moving and firing my Xipe Totec, bullets pinging off the intact parts of my armor as I went. I fired back, zeroing Gangoon after Gangoon and ducking into the warehouse as my Iron clicked empty to avoid the storm of liquid metal flechettes fired from Aleksander Yurinov's Shotgun.

As I reloaded, I ducked into the warehouse, hunkering down behind some crates as Aleksander Yurinov snarled out at his various Gangoons, demanding they flush me out for him and his Golems.

"Get in there and flush him out! I can't summon any more damned Creatures today!" Snarled Aleksander Yurinov.

"Nyet, ty delayesh' eto sam!" Retorted one of the other Gangoons.

"What did you say to me?" Questioned Aleksander Yurinov.

"Cyka Blyat, pochemu my dolzhny?" Queried another of the Gangoons.

I grinned as it sounded like the group of Gangoons that he'd gathered for his little trap didn't like him referring to them as NPCs. They were demanding that Aleksander Yurinov go into the Warehouse to flush me out himself if he wanted that so much. The mutiny would give me just enough time to reload my plasma launcher as well as pull out my Frag Grenade, arm it, and roll it out of the Warehouse Entrance.

"You're fucking minions! You do what I say, or else!" Warned Aleksander Yurinov.

"Ili yeshche chto?" Asked one of the Gangoons.

However, Aleksander Yurinov would never get to say exactly what he meant by or else in answer to the Gangoon's question, cause I rolled my Frag Grenade out of the warehouse entrance just as the question was asked. It exploded moments later, scything down the remaining Gangoons outside, zeroing them. As I rushed outside, sighting down on Aleksander Yurinov and firing my Plasma Launcher at him, however, the Ruby Golem stepped in front of the blast for him, the magnetically accelerated, plasma sheathed, durasteel round slammed into the Ruby Golem, failing to do more than crack the torso of the attack dog as it took the bullet for its master, but that gave me enough time to scoop up the fallen RPG Launcher from earlier and aim it at the Emerald Golem, firing the anti-tank warhead right into the Tiger's Snarling Maw, blowing its head off and shattering it into a pile of jagged emeralds and gemstone dust.

However, Aleksander Yurinov wasn't phased, spitting out a string of syllables and touching his Ruby Golem Attack Dog on its flank. Almost as soon as he did that, the Ruby Golem grew from the size of a Horse to the size of a Heavy Tank. As it did so, the cracks from the impact of the durasteel round regenerated as if they had never been struck. The now gigantified Ruby Golem let out a bark as it charged at me, its now forty-five-ton bulk sending cracks through the concrete of the pier as it charged me. I was forced to leap away to the side to dodge its rush, and it still managed to clip my left arm with its paws, breaking my arm with a crack and separating my shoulder as the weight of the blow bent my arm backward, hyperextending it.

As I fell, I cried out in pain, biting back on it as Aleksander Yurinov fired his odd, liquid metal shotgun at me. The impact of the liquid metal, fortunately not doing anything to me, as none of the spread of flechettes hit my compromised left shoulder. However, taking the impact staggered me long enough for the Ruby Golem to turn and slam one of its giant forepaws on my torso, pressing on my wounded shoulder and causing me to gag as my vision swam from the pain. However, my Mechanicus Chrome took over, shunting the pain to one side and injecting clarity into my mind. I still had the Krak Grenade, and I still had one arm free. My Xipe Totec having been lost to the Pacific when the Ruby Golem clipped me the first time.

I reached down to my belt, pulled the Krak Grenade off the Harness, and as the Ruby Golem gnashed its gigantic jaws in my face, trying to intimidate me, I shoved the grenade in its mouth. The following explosion knocked Aleksander Yurinov off his feet as he approached and once again shattered the Golem into Jagged Rubies and Gemstone Dust. Unfortunately, my armor was pretty wrecked from the close-up explosion, and I'd blown out both my eardrums, bleeding from both of them, and my nose, as my Mechanicus Chrome informed me I had a pretty severe concussion.

However, I was just about able to shove the section of paw off me in time to arm the plasma grenade that I also had and toss it at Aleksander Yurinov, before dashing into the Warehouse and hunkering down behind some crates. The plasma grenade went off outside, and I heard a cry of pain as the darkened, storm-ridden sky was temporarily lit up by a second, miniature sun on the ground. Unfortunately, as I took stock of my injuries, breathing heavily, the shouting from outside revealed that I hadn't been able to Zero Aleksander Yurinov. He must've found some cover or something.

Taking stock of what I had on my person, I realized that I only had Fuerza Crispa left as a weapon, and my armor was pretty much shredded from a Gigantified Ruby Golem hitting me with the strength of an Epic-Level Mountain Giant, to use a Dungeons and Dragons Analogy. My left arm was hanging uselessly at my side, broken in two places, with my left shoulder separated, I had a bad concussion, and my collarbone was at least bruised. I had two bruised ribs and one that was cracked. At this point, I was pretty much just holding on with willpower, adrenaline, and the fact that my Chrome was keeping the pain from knocking me unconscious. I had to finish this, or Aleksander Yurinov was gonna finish me, no question about that.

Speaking of the Devil, as I pulled Fuerza Crispa, he came limping in. His own armor was broken off him, and his torso was burned pretty badly with a large swathe of third-degree burns and worse. I could see muscle in some places. Honestly, he had to have some form of supernatural endurance to even keep standing. In his left hand, he clutched a monoblade Machete. I held my breath, realizing it would come down to whoever found each other first and landed the first hit.

"I can smell you! Come out and Die!" Snarled Aleksander Yurinov as he passed by the stack of crates I was hiding behind.

This was it, it all came down to this as I brandished Fuerza Crispa and lunged for him. Even as I lunged, he whirled around with a cut that crunched into my ruined armor with a screech of tortured metal, cutting a shallow gash along my side with his Monoblade Machete. Fuerza Crispa, though, had struck true, punching into his skull right between his eyes and punching into his brain, electric discharge frying the remnant of his brain as Fuerza Crispa did what I designed it to do. Both of us fell to the floor, I was only badly wounded, though. Aleksander Yurinov, though? He was zeroed.

For a few moments, that was everything that happened. I spent time holding my bloody side, trying desperately to cling to consciousness even as I was nearing the limits of what my chemically-enhanced body and my chrome would allow me to handle. Then I dragged myself to my feet, grabbing Fuerza Crispa with my one good arm and pulling. As it came free, I felt a surge of power flow into me, tingling through my body as I made my way out of the darkened warehouse and onto the dock. It was pretty much destroyed, but as I looked out over everything. I saw that the rain had cleared up, leaving the sky clear just in time for sunset to stain the horizon orange.

Then, just as quickly as that image seared itself into my mind, everything went white and I found myself transported away from the battlefield by Divine Providence. . .

XXXX

When I awoke, I found myself once again in the flame-lit halls of Vulcan's Forge, the God of Blacksmiths and Forges hammering away at something with a rhythmic clinking sound. I jolted up, and the sound of hammer on metal didn't stop, only slowed as my Divine Patron pressed on with whatever it was he was working on. I knew better than to interrupt now, but he still spoke up as he hammered away.

"I'll be with you in just a moment, Lad. Have no fear of that." He intoned.

"Sure. Take your time." I nodded.

A few more moments went by as Vulcan finished hammering away at whatever he was working on, frowning minutely behind his bushy, soot-stained beard, before hitting the metal one more time in a shower of multi-colored, star-like sparks that shimmered with magical potential, and grabbing tongs. He put the metal in a barrel to quench whatever he was working on in a hiss of multi-colored, mystical steam before pulling it out. It was a small statuette of Aleksander Yurinov, almost lifelike and humming with power, for all that it was made of metal. Vulcan nodded, placing the statuette down on a workbench before turning to me with a grin on his face.

"You certainly don't disappoint. It was touch and go for a moment at the end, but you pulled it off. Flidais didn't think you would. They bet me enough power that I can afford to give you a bit of something extra." Grinned Vulcan.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Normally, when you slay another Champion, you only gain access to their power source, in this case, the Celestial Menagerie. However, I'm giving you an extra helping of the points you conceptualize power as for your hard work. It's only fair, since you're the reason I have the extra power, to begin with." Grinned Vulcan.

"How many points?" I queried.

"Say a third of what I gained from the bet. That would be around a thousand of your points, by the way. You'll need them with the state you were left in." Informed Vulcan.

"Oh? I don't get another body and identity for the next Jump?" I asked.

"You do, but you don't get your wounds healed. It's a precaution against cheating, you understand." Informed Vulcan.

"So this is. . .?" I questioned, trailing off.

"Just an Astral Form, yes." Confirmed Vulcan.

"All right. So, where to next?" I queried.

"Mundus. What you know as Warhammer Fantasy. Loki's Champion is already there, and he also bet me that you wouldn't be able to defeat his Champion. He's built himself something of a Kingdom in the Southern and Western Border Princes, so I hope you're a good strategist as well as a good personal combatant." Explained Vulcan.

"All right. Hit me with the power, then send me off." I nodded.

"Are you sure you're ready? Don't want to ask any other questions?" Asked Vulcan.

"No, it seems simple enough. Head to the Border Princes, build my own Kingdom, kill Loki's Champion, and conquer his Kingdom." I shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Now, brace yourself. This might sting a little." Cautioned Vulcan.

Then he limped over to me, grabbing a nearby, leaf-shaped, Celtic-style blade, and thrust it into my chest. The power suffused my body as I found myself once more limned with golden energy. Then the pain hit me and I let out a scream. Funnily enough, I remembered thinking just before my vision whited out again that the pain was a bit less than the last time I'd been given power via stabbing by Vulcan. Then, almost as soon as I had that thought, I passed out.

When I woke up, I would no longer be in Vulcan's Lair, Cyberpunk Earth, or any Earth for that Matter, but Mundus, on a straw cot in the back room of some tavern somewhere. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. This marks the end of the MC's adventures in Cyberpunk Earth and the Jump to Mundus. We'll only have an epilogue chapter to go before finally saying goodbye to Cyberpunk Earth entirely. I hope you guys enjoyed this bit of Cyberpunk Stuff, because it'll be the last we get of it in this fic.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the Cyberpunk Epilogue, then we'll get a few interludes with the other Champions that survived. I'll also have character sheets and more images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .